American  Council  of the  Blind
of
Minnesota

President's Message Winter 2007
By Ken Rodgers

Finally, winter has arrived! As I write this message there is a gentle snow falling and it seems safe to say winter has certainly arrived. For a while I was beginning to think it was not going to come this year. But then again, this is Minnesota and when it comes to the weather... well, you know the saying, "If you don't like it right now just wait ten minutes and it will change!"

The falling snow is a great backdrop for thinking back on my term as your President. With the upcoming elections in April my term as president will end. Even though my term of president will be complete in April my participation in ACBM activities and events will continue. Many programs have been initiated to try to build a greater foundation for leadership, social activities, advocacy and ways to better our lives as visually impaired citizens. With yearly Leadership Retreats, the board gathers with newly elected officers to draft a strategy and pinpoint focus on the immediate future direction for ACBM.

In the past 4 years, activities have been planned, fundraising projects completed, monthly board meetings scheduled, regular quarterly Membership meetings held, national events attended by ACBM members and officers and the list goes on and on.

You, our members, are the critical component in the success of all these activities.

You have driven the direction of the Board. You have driven the types of activities planned. You have attended the meetings and participated in countless ways to make your wishes known. In doing so, you have provided support to your leadership team. Without you it would not be possible for ACBM to function as it does!

I know it can be a pain to decide to attend a membership meeting at times, and how hard it might be to figure out how you will get there. It's hard enough when the weather is good, much less when the weather is especially bad. If it weren’t for your willingness to participate and serve, ACBM would be only a mediocre organization.

I have to decide for my self if my participation makes any real difference to the group. For me personally, I want to be able to contribute to that activity in a productive way. So should you too, whenever it comes to an ACBM event time and time again, you have chosen to willingly participate.

Looking back over the last 4 years, I want to tell you that each time you decided to participate with an ACBM event it has truly made a difference! Not only has it made a difference for that particular activity but for me personally as well. Your participation shows your confidence and support. Without that confidence and support ACBM would just slowly cease to exist. Your participation makes all the difference in the world!

It takes all typeds of individuals to make up any organization--those who are leaders, those who are followers, those who are "doers” and those who bring others into the organization. ACBM needs you to think about how to help the organization keep its strong presence and leadership within our community.

ACBM is a solid and well respected blind consumer organization at the present time. It can only continue with dedicated members who are willing to further drive us forward into the future. At the April membership meeting election of officers will take place. If you are interested in serving in a leadership position, I would strongly encourage you to take that step by calling Info Express or contacting any board member to express your willingness to serve. I can assure you that whatever your leadership skills are at this time they will be enhanced through participation in a leadership role. Please give this idea careful consideration. If running for an office of leadership is not quite your thing how about talking to someone that you think would make a good leader for ACBM and ask him or her to consider running?

We will be electing the following officers: President, Secretary and 2 Directors. If seeking an office appeals to you, why not “throw your hat in the ring?”

To run for office call ACBM Info Express at 651-642-5003 and leave your name in Box 5 and we will submit it to the Nominating Committee. Also leave your name on voice mailbox 5 if you would like to be appointed to the Nominating Committee. Remember, if you nominate someone you need to have his or her permission to do so.

At the beginning of my presidency I revived the motto, "ACBM: Looking towards the future while remembering the lessons of the past." I most assuredly know that many lessons have been learned. It is once again time to focus on looking to the future.
Good luck to everyone and here is to ACBM's future!

Election of Officers

A sure sign of spring is that it is once again time for ACBM elections.

At our next quarterly meeting on April 28th we have 5 positions up for election, President, treasurer and 3 board members.

Here's the information on each office.
Ken has served 2 terms as president and is not eligible to run again.
Juliette was elected to the vacated office of treasurer last year and would be eligible to run again.
The board positions held by Bob Lockwood, Jeff West and Marian Haslerud are all up for election. Each of these board members has served one term.

If you are interested in running for any of these positions or would like to nominate someone please contact the nominating committee or leave the information on the comment line of info-express.

ACBM 2007 nominating committee:
Nickie Coby (651) 336-3058
Janet Dickelman (651) 698-5059

Your participation in our election process is very important and we encourage and welcome all input.

ACBM Calendar
By: Michael Malver

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly my calendar fills up. Although I know that our board meetings happen on the third Monday of the month, and our quarterly meetings happen on the fourth week of January, April, July, and October, the events always seem to take me by surprise. To minimize this “surprise” effect, I have put the meeting dates for this year’s events into my calendar. I hope you will mark your calendars with the the below dates, so that we can see you at a future event. Remember that ACBM does plan events besides the below-listed meeting dates, and you can find out about those by dialing ACB info express at 651-642-5003: option 2.

Our board meetings for this year will take place on the following dates:
March 19, April 16, May 21, June 18, July 16, August 20, September 17, October 15, November 19, and December 17

The three remaining quarterly meetings for ACBM will take place April 28, July 28 and October 27

Also, for the first time in over twenty years, the ACB national convention will be held in Minneapolis. The dates for that event will be June 30 through July 7. If you have never attended a national convention, please consider doing so. It is a wonderful chance to meet new people, as well as an opportunity to get energized by speeches from our national staff and elected officers and board members regarding the current state of issues important to blind people all over the United States. Being able to go to meetings of special interest groups and discuss hobbies such as art, and amateur radio, or careers such as vending, and lawyering are also important information. If none of these reasons appeal to you, come because the transportation costs to get to the convention will not be this cheap again for a Minnesota participant for quite a while.

2007 ACB Convention Coming To Minneapolis
By The 2007 Host Committee

The 2007 ACB National Convention will be held in our very own downtown Minneapolis June 30-July 7. The host hotels are the Hyatt Regency and Millennium Hotels located on Nicollet Mall and 13th Street. The 2007 Host Committee has been very busy working in close coordination with the national planning committee to make sure this convention will be the best ACB has offered to date!

As you know, ACB conventions offer an incredible array of varied activities. Since ACB is home of over 70 special interest affiliate groups, each with its own organization and leadership, coordinating of the yearly ACB event is an immense task. Many of the special interest affiliates use the summer convention to hold their own mini conventions with special focus workshops that are of particular interest to their own members as well as to hold annual business meetings. These activities of course, must be coordinated between the actual programming and business meetings required from ACB itself. In order to maximize limited meeting room space and to coordinate all the activities, a large number of volunteers are needed. Many of the volunteers come from within the special interest groups and from within ACB itself. However, as we have grown from year to year our needs for outside volunteers has grown as well.

As you can well imagine, anytime thousands of blind and visually impaired individuals come together in one location there is bound to be an impact made on the population of the host city. In order to create a more positive interaction between the non-sighted members with the sighted host city population, ACB has developed specific opportunities to involve the community from the local host city.
Volunteers will be needed to assist the guests in moving to and from various scheduled activities and meetings in both hotels.

In previous convention locations ACB has been the recipient of generous volunteer services from local corporations and companies. We are keeping our fingers crossed that Minneapolis will be no different. With numerous large community minded companies located right in the downtown area we are hoping many of their employees will want to volunteer to be a part of this historic event. In past years ACB has benefited from local civic groups such as Lions, Eagles, Masons, Elks, Shriners, Women's Clubs, Junior Leagues, Boys and Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts and Eagle Scouts. Local schools have contributed volunteers from middle and senior high schools. Students have been recruited from colleges and universities as well.

Many churches located within the downtown area inspire members to actively volunteer in the community. our pool of potential volunteers is expansive. Most importantly think how the volunteer potential could link the conventioneers with the members of the Minneapolis community. The volunteer experience can be enlightening for everyone.

If you know of any group or individual that might be interested in volunteering at our 2007 Convention a volunteer training meeting will be held Saturday, June 2, 2007 at the downtown Hyatt Regency Hotel starting at 9:00am. Other training opportunities will be announced as the Convention approaches. For additional information regarding volunteering, anyone interested can contact the ACBM Host Committee by calling Ken @ 612-236-4115 or Janet @ 651-428-5059.

The 2007 Convention is shaping up to be the best convention to date. Have you marked your calendar?

Help ACBM Each Time You Use the Internet

How many times do you use GOOGLE to do a search to find something on the Internet? What if American Council of the Blind of Minnesota earned a penny every time a member of ACBM completed a search. Well, now we can!

GoodSearch.com is a new search engine that donates half its revenue, about a penny per search, to the nonprofit charities its users designate. As of now, American Council of the Blind of Minnesota has been established as a certified registered organization, which means that you can select ACBM to earn a penny each time you do a search!

When you do a search using GoodSearch.com you will be helping American Council of the Blind of Minnesota continue its work. The best part is that it costs you nothing! GoodSearch is a search engine with a social conscience, donating half of its revenue to a variety of non-profit organizations. The advertisers pay Good Search to pay its users for doing an internet search. How cool is that?

GoodSearch is a Yahoo-powered search engine so you will get that same great quality information whenever you search using GoodSearch.com. To help out ACBM, go to www.goodsearch.com

Once there, be sure to enter American Council of the Blind of Minnesota' in the box labeled: "Nonprofit charity you support"

The first time you enter American Council of the Blind of Minnesota' Please you will need to click on the link that says, "VERIFY your Nonprofit". After that, the American Council of the Blind of Minnesota will always appear in that box.

Help us spread the word! And better yet, why not make Goodsearch.com your new home page? Then any time you want to do a search you are there already. To make GoodSearch.com your new home page, paste this link into your browser:
http://www.goodsearch.com/MakeHomepage.aspx

Just 500 of us searching four times a day will raise about $7300 in a year, without anyone spending a dime!

Using GoodSearch.com will make ACBM a little money! It is a no-brainer! Please tell your family and friends to use Good Search as well.

There has never been an easier way to help nonprofit charity organizations before GoodSearch.com entered our world. Please give it a try. It costs you nothing and American council of the Blind of Minnesota" has everything to gain.

ACBM 2007 Scholarship Opportunities
By: Michael Malver

Every summer, the members of the American Council of the Blind of Minnesota look forward to meeting our latest winners of the 2 $750 scholarships, which ACBM offers annually.

The American Council of the Blind of Minnesota prides itself on the work it does to improve the lives of blind or visually impaired Minnesotans. Awarding two $750 scholarships: one for an in-coming college freshman, and one for a graduate or undergraduate college student is one way we do this. Both scholarships are for full-time students only.

If you are working toward a degree or certificate during the 2007-2008 school year, please apply for one of our scholarships. You will find the cover letter and application later in this issue. If you are not a student, but know of someone who could benefit from financial assistance with their education, please forward this article and accompanying materials. Applications will be accepted March 1, 2007 through May 31, 2007.

The scholarship committee looks forward to receiving many applications, and taking on the rewarding challenge of picking this year’s scholarship recipients.

Sincerely,
Michael Malver ACBM Scholarship committee

Please mail your completed application to:

American Council of the Blind of Minnesota Scholarships
PO Box 7341
Minneapolis, MN 55407

Note: These scholarships are intended for full-time students during the 2007-2008 school year and are not extendable. Scholarship money will be paid in two installments. The first installment will be paid upon receipt of proof of registration for the fall-winter school session. The second installment will be paid upon receipt of proof of registration for the winter-spring school session.

Materials may be submitted in Print, large print, or Braille. Cassette tapes, computer disks, and e-mail applications will not be accepted.

Please send all of the following items in written format to the above address by May 31, 2007.

Required Materials:

1. A completed application form (see below). Note that this application form must be signed where indicated.
2. A signed statement from a doctor or a rehabilitation professional that verifies that the candidate is blind or visually impaired.
3. Transcripts from each college and/or high school that the candidate has attended.
4. Two letters of recommendation from someone outside the candidate’s family.
5. A copy of the letter of acceptance from the candidates post secondary educational facility.

Background Information Section:
Applicant’s Name: _____________________________________________
Applicant’s Home Address: ______________________________________
______________________________________
Applicant’s Educational Facility Address (if applicable):
___________________________________
___________________________________
____________________________________
Daytime Phone Number:________________________________________
Evening Phone Number:________________________________________
E-Mail Address (if applicable):____________________________________

Education Section:
For which scholarship are you applying? (Check one below)
* College Freshman (first year post secondary): ____
* Second year or above post secondary (grad. or undergrad.): _____

Post Secondary Institution(s) Attended:

Please provide the following information about each post secondary institution attended:
Name of institution, address of institution, major degree or certificate sought, GPA.
Please use a separate sheet for the above information.

Educational institution the applicant plans to attend during the 2007-2008 academic year:
Name:______________________________________________________
City: ____________________________ State:______________________
Degree or certificate sought:_____________________________________

Will the applicant be attending the educational institution full time during the 2007-2008 academic year? Yes: _____ No: _____
(See note at the beginning of this application.)

Extra-Curricular Activity Section:
Please indicate your involvement with extra-curricular activities in the following areas. Use a separate sheet to provide this information.

1. Community service involvement (provide number of hours per month).
2. Organizational involvement (provide offices held, if applicable).
3. Hobbies

Personal Sketch Section:
On separate sheets, please provide an essay of not more than two double-spaced pages that addresses:

1. How has your blindness or visual impairment affected your life?
2. Tell of a time you advocated for the needs of yourself or others.

Applicant’s Signature:_______________________ Date:_____________

ACBM Board of Directors

Ken Rodgers, President
Minneapolis, MN Ph: (612) 236-4115 E-mail: kenrodgers@comcast.net

Michael Malver, Vice President
Minneapolis, MN Ph: (612) 673-0664 E-mail: mmalver@visi.com

Janet Dickelman, Secretary
St. Paul, MN Ph: (651) 698-5059, E-mail: janet.dickelman@comcast.net

Juliette Silvers, Treasurer
Minneapolis, MN Ph: (612) 824-2131, E-mail: jsilvers03@comcast.com

Jeff West, Director
Golden Valley, MN Ph: (763) 544-5664

Marian Haslerud, Director
Minneapolis, MN Ph: (612) 870-8761 E-mail: mhaslerud@comcast.com

David Moseman, Director
St. Paul, MN Ph: 651-340-4217 E-mail: moseman@comcast.net

Carolyn Coby, Director
Forest Lake, MN Ph: 651-464-5935 E-Mail: cs_coby@hotmail.com

Bob Lockwood, Director
Minnetonka, MN Ph: (952) 938-7190 E-mail: Peggy_bob@msn.com

Copyright © 2001 American Council of the Blind of Minnesota kenrodgers@comcast.net